Indian Summer
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: It was the sort of day that made you want to lie back in the grass and stare at the sky. But why was Steel doing it?


Indian summer was upon them and with it brought a yearning to Jean Taylor's soul. She longed to run through fields of long dry grass and watch milkweed pods explode, sending seeds out on fluffy parachutes. Her soul begged her to scuffle through piles of downed leaves, kicking them into a crazed and short lived flight. She needed to be free to race the wind and win. Basically, she just didn't want to be stuck inside a stuffy classroom and she had a feeling her students felt the same.

She could see it in their fidgeting and squirming in their new clothes, casting longing glances at the tall windows that overlooked the school yard. Fourth grade was the hardest because their windows looked out onto the fields behind the school and to the tree line beyond. She knew there was only one answer to the problem.

Jean clapped her hands softly and waited for fifteen pairs of eyes to reluctantly focus upon her. "All right, students, I know how you feel, so I will make a deal with you. If you sit quietly and take your spelling test, I will dismiss you for an early recess. How does that sound?"

There was a murmur of delight and Jean nodded. It was the right decision. A young boy's hand shot up and she turned her attention to him. "Yes, Larry?"

"Aw gee whiz, Miss Jean, can't we do the other way round?"

She liked Larry. He had a bit of a focus issue, but his mind was bright, and was always trying to find a way around spelling. He was going to be a great leader or a troublemaker and she knew whichever path he took, he would be very good at it.

"All right, Larry, on the condition that you can spell squirrel correctly." She purposefully took the hardest word from their study list.

All his classmates turned their attention to him. Not one to turn from a challenge, Larry stood up and cleared his throat. "S… q…" He looked frantically at the ground.

"Remember who always helps the queen?" Jean prompted.

"Me… I mean, you… U," he said, relief on his face and a thankful smile at his teacher. "Um… I, double R, E, L."

"Very good and very correct." Larry sat down with a combination of relief and triumph as congratulatory words blanketed him. "I will keep my promise, but you also need to keep one for me. The other classes are not out yet, so if you could play quietly until they join you, they will not feel badly."

"We can do that. They're the noise makers, not us." Larry announced, looking around at his other classmates for agreement.

"Off you go!" Jean pushed the door that opened out onto the playground wide and her students quietly got to their feet and marched out, single file. The minute their feet hit the ground, they took flight and Jean smiled. It had been the right decision. She turned back into the now empty classroom to lock her purse in her desk. Her students she trusted, the rest of the school, not as much.

Suddenly there was a great noise from the playground and she gasped. It only took a child a moment to injure themselves and the principal would have her guts for garters if it was discovered she let her students out unsupervised.

Gracie and Susan, inseparable from each other, ran into the classroom, hands clasped. "Miss Jean, you have to come. You have to come now."

Jean ran after them and saw her class gathered around the playhouse. It had been a gift from one of the founding families and the younger children, especially the girls, loved it. The older students also enjoyed it, but for a very different reason. It was set towards the back of the schoolyard and the perfect place to snatch a kiss or smoke an illicit cigarette away from the watchful eye of the monitor.

She instantly took a head count, much relieved when she hit the magic number. All her students were accounted for, but there was definitely something wrong. They were in huddled groups, clinging to each other, even the boys. Some were crying while others just looked horrified. Larry looked particularly stricken and also greatly relieved at the sight of his teacher.

"What is it, Miss Jean? What is it? Who did it and what does it mean?"

Jean automatically shook her head. "I don't know…" She assumed some of the local hooligans had painted graffiti or left rude drawings inside. She trailed off as she glanced in. The playhouse was full of blood, gallons of it, it seemed. It pooled in low areas and partially congealed dark brown at the edges. She's never seen so much. It reminded her of being back on the farm and watching them slaughter a cow. Even then, it wasn't this bad.

The world abruptly tilted and she grabbed onto the door frame for support. "Get Mr. Lucas, Larry. Run!"

A gentle wind, soft and caressing like fingers, stroked his face and Steel forced his eyes to open. Reluctantly, one obeyed, and then the other. He was on his back, looking up at a sapphire sky through a riot of blooming wild flowers. They nodded and danced in the same breeze.

 _Sapphire?_ There was no answer, but that didn't surprise him. He sensed he was alone from the moment he gained consciousness. Since he was alone, he didn't bother to suppress a groan as he sat up, just barely taller than the flowers. How on Earth had he ended up here?

Steel frowned as he fought to remember the events that had led him to this meadow, but his mind refused to cooperate. It was filled with haze and cotton, and stubbornly refused his demands.

 _Steel?_

Steel sat up straighter, relieved at the sound of his partner's voice, but there was also a tendril of concern that crept up his spine. Why couldn't he remember? How did he get here? So involved in thought, he nearly forgot to respond to her. Nearly.

 _Sapphire, I am here._

 _Where is here, Steel?_

That meant standing, which he did with great reluctance and difficulty and only after two attempts. Steel didn't remember ever feeling this sore and weary after an assignment. Normally, he felt nothing at all, save for an annoyance that came whenever he dealt with humans.

The field stretched, meeting the tree line in all directions. Evergreen trees, from the looks of it, made up most of the forest that he could see. There were outcroppings of rocks, sharp and jagged, jutting up from the far end and that's where Steel saw a figure.

 _Sapphire, are you standing on rocks?_

 _I am._

Steel waved his hand above his head. _Can you see me?_

 _No._

 _Are you facing the forest?_

 _Yes._

 _Turn around._

 _I still don't… oh, there you are! How did you get there?_

Steel let his arm drop. It felt heavy and weary from the effort. _I have no idea. I was hoping you did._

Miss Jean led her class away from the blood-filled playhouse, to the shade of an oak tree. Her kids were hanging close to her, unwilling to leave her side. She watched as Mr. Lucas talked with a group of people, some whom she recognized as their local police force, but there were two, a man and a woman, whom she didn't recognize at all.

"Jean, how are you holding up?" Hisa Aikawa was a fellow teacher and relative newcomer to their school. She taught fourth grade and was popular among the male population of the school and Jean could see why. She was quiet, well-spoken, and kind. Jean found herself, like others, strangely drawn to her in a way she'd never felt before. It was the same with Hisa's students, some of them, troublemakers in the past, grew quiet and obedient under her instruction. Older students adored her, while the younger ones seemed to fear her.

Sadly she'd had a devastating effect upon the male population of the community. No sooner did a man begin to date her, than his friends would notice a change in him. Each man would become quiet and reclusive before leaving town abruptly, always taking Hisa's heart with them. Hisa would mourn their loss and bury herself in her work, vowing to never again look at a man. Until the next one, of course.

The rest of the students were still inside, their faces plastered against every window, desperate to be part of the action. They desperately wanted to be part of the action while her children wished for the opposite. They looked longingly at the school, as if willing themselves back to their classroom.

Jean looked at her kids and smiled brightly. "I'm doing fine. We all are, aren't we?" No one said anything. Larry was keeping a close eye on both the goings on and her. He moved a bit closer and hugged her, staying far away from Hisa. "Larry, I'm going to go talk to the people over there. I'm leaving you in charge. Are you up to it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Even her brave boy sounded subdued. He locked eyes with the fourth grade teacher and the woman smiled.

"You have such a brave little man there, Jean." Hisa reached out for the boy, but he pulled back, pressing his thin body against Jean.

"Thank you." Jean gave Larry another hug and sent him back to his classmates.

"I had better return to my classroom. My own children will have many questions." Jean watched her practically glide over the clumps of grass and rock. She was going to have to get Hisa to share her secret of graceful walking one of these days.

Mr. Lucas, the principal, met her halfway. "Jean, we're going to release the students, but they want to talk with your kids first."

"They're pretty scared, Jim."

"I know, but they were first on the scene."

"Perhaps if I were to speak with them first?" The strange woman had joined them. She was tall and slender, wearing a dress the color of bluebells. Her blonde hair framed a kind and caring face. "My name is Sapphire. I'm rather a specialist in cases like this. That rather austere-looking gentleman is my partner, Steel."

She indicate the man with a nod of her head. He appeared the exact opposite of the woman. His suit's lines were crisp enough to cut paper and he wore a look of annoyance. Jean wasn't sure what the brunt of his anger was focused upon, but she knew she didn't want to speak with him or have him anywhere near the children.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him clear of your students."

Jean jumped at Sapphire's voice. "You're not a mind reader, are you?"

"It doesn't take a mind reader when it comes to Steel."

 _I'll thank you very much to rephrase that._

 _Steel, she is terrified of you. She doesn't want you near her students._

 _That makes two of us._

Sapphire laughed and placed a delicate hand on Jean's arm. Jean was amazed at how blue Sapphire's eyes were.

"I suppose it will be all right."

Sapphire walked to the group of children and gracefully sat tucking her legs under her. "Hello, my name is Sapphire."

Larry darted a look at his teacher and Jean nodded. He stuck out a grubby hand. "I'm Larry. Your name is a gemstone. My daddy is a jeweler, so I know."

"Hello, Larry. And, yes, it is. You are very observant. Do you know what happened here?"

The boy's eyes widened. "We didn't do anything. It was like that when we got here."

"I'm not blaming any of you for anything. Did you hear or see anything different? Even just a little bit?"

"I did." Sharon Smith was a quiet girl. She never volunteered or spoke up in class unless prompted to. She was smart, but also very insecure. She reminded Jean a bit of herself as a child.

"What did you see, Sharon?"

"I didn't see anything, but the air smelled funny. Just like when Papa is taking care of the summer pigs."

Sapphire looked confused, so Jean stepped in. "You were smelling blood, Sharon?"

"Uh huh, and something else. It was like when one of the kitchen outlets caught fire. It made the air smell…" Sharon was searching for the right word. "Sharp?"

 _Ozone. She was smelling ozone._

 _Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to eavesdrop, Steel?_

 _It's more informative that what these idiots are coming up with._

 _Which is?_

 _Nothing human could lose this much blood and live, yet there are no blood trails leading to or from the structure. Everyone at the school is accounted for and no one saw anything. It was fine during the last…_

 _Recess. The word you want is recess._

 _They fear for the safety of their children._

 _I fear for the safety of their children._

"Are you okay, Miss Sapphire?" Larry's voice brought Sapphire out of her head and back to the children.

"I'm sorry. Sharon, did you smell ozone?"

"I… I…" Sharon looked a little scared. "I don't know what that is." She sounded so sad and embarrassed that Jean immediately hugged her.

"There's nothing wrong with not knowing everything, Sharon. It's only wrong when you pretend you do."

"Sharon, let me ask you this. Have you ever seen a fuse blow?"

"Uh huh, we have bad electrical outlets at home." Her eyes widen with realization. "That's exactly what this smelled like."

"And now you know about ozone." Sapphire stroke the girl's thin limp hair and smiled reassuringly at her.

 _Ozone confirmed._ Sapphire thought back to Steel. She watched the man nod and make a face.

"Larry, do you remember who was playing in the playhouse last?"

"Fourth Grade. It was their turn and Fifth grade got it next. We only got to play with it now 'cuz.

"Because," Jean corrected gently.

Larry rolled his eyes. "Because we got out early for recess. We couldn't when the other kids got here. I saw Miss Hisa talking to her kids here."

"Hisa?"

"Fourth grade teacher." Jean looked around the playground and spotted her friend waving goodbye to her students. They were old enough to walk home on their own. "She's by the front gate."

Sapphire looked around until she spotted the teacher. "I see her. Perhaps it is she I should speak with next. Thank you all very much. You were very helpful."

"Mommy!" One of her other students shouted and focus shifted away from Sapphire as parents began to arrive at the playground.

Jean nodded. "Go to them. School is out for the day." She hoped it would remain a treat that would dispel the ugliness of the day.

She watched her students run to their parents, animated for the first time in an hour, a very long time for a young child. Mr. Lucas was speaking earnestly with them, possibly warning them about shock and stress. Drawing a deep breath, she walked back towards the playhouse.

Sapphire managed to cross most of the meadow to Steel before they met up. Steel walked as if his weight was pressing him down into the soil. It was a struggle to wade through the grass and he tripped a time or two over clumps of weeds.

Sapphire walked quickly up to him and he merely looked at her, then sank to the ground. She followed, gracefully easing herself down before him.

"Steel, what is it?"

"I'm so tired, Sapphire." His voice, usually strong and authoritative, was subdued. "I've never been so weary."

"I'm not surprised. You remember nothing of what happened?" She brought a slender hand to his face and he turned into it, calmed by the cool flesh and familiar smell. When he didn't answer, she drew his head to her shoulder, just as he had many times for her.

For a long time, they sat like that, warmed by the late autumn sun, serenaded by a host of insects and birds.

 _Steel?_ Sapphire didn't want to speak and risk waking him. She'd never known Steel to sleep and the thought of it now frightened her.

"Yes?" He sat back and Sapphire was relieved to see that the color, what little Steel had, was returning to his face.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I am, but I am still confused. I remember the school yard and the small plastic structure –"

"Playhouse. It's called a playhouse."

"Small plastic structure," Steel repeated and Sapphire smiled. "I remember that you were going to speak with a woman…" Steel trailed off, his brow furrowed. "Why can't I remember?"

"She was a _Hinoenma_ , Steel. It's a succubus spirit that draws energy or blood from its male victims. Because you have no blood of which to speak, she drew energy. That's why you are so weak."

"I don't believe -"

"Whether you believe or not, that is the truth. I was there. I saw it happen."

Sapphire approached Steel, who was standing off to one side. He glanced at her quickly, as if fearing that they would vanish if he didn't watch them closely.

"Sapphire, analysis?" He nodded to the brightly color plastic.

She smiled and rested a hand on a blue door.

"Polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride with some foamed polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate used for the details, such as the artificial flowers. In other words—"

"Plastic and Styrofoam," Steel finished. He smiled slightly, with just one corner of his mouth actually getting involved. "I suspected as much. And the blood?"

"A mystery. There are many different types, not just human."

"What?"

"I'm not sure what to think, Steel." Sapphire dropped her hand. "There's something not right here."

The approach of the police chief kept Steel from commenting. "I sure appreciate the FBI sending people along, but I'm amazed at how quickly you got here."

"We were… in the area," Steel said. "There was a…

"Triple homicide," Sapphire finished, her accent diminishing. "We'd just finished us and were heading back to DC."

"You two ain't from around here, then."

 _He has such a grasp of the obvious._ Steel looked back toward the main gate to the school and to the woman poised there. She glanced back at him and he nodded. _Sapphire, who is that?_

"No, we're both English. Our superiors think we work well together." Sapphire took a moment to observe the school yard. "Does everyone have access to the playhouse?" _The old woman, you mean?_

 _That's catty, even for you, Sapphire. She's not old. She's young. And lovely. She reminds me a bit of Jet._

Sapphire's eyes widened at that. Certainly the woman at the gate wasn't ugly, but neither was she young or lovely.

"We set up a roster so everyone would have a turn. It was the Fifth Grade's turn next." Mr. Lucas, the principal spoke up. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. There is nothing like this on the books at headquarters." Sapphire knew that to be the truth. "It appears a ritual slaying."

"Of a man?"

"I don't know. There is too much blood for one body and no real evidence as to how or why it is here."

"Maybe it was a vampire."

The group turned and looked at the second grade teacher.

"Why would you say that, Jean? Surely you don't believe in such things." Mr. Lucas laughed and covered his mouth. The woman didn't take her eyes off him.

"You can say what you will, but I remember the history of this place. Even Henry David Thoreau didn't entirely discount them."

"That was because of all the tuberculosis there was here." Mr. Lucas took off his glasses and stuffed them into a shirt pocket. "Miss Taylor, there is no such thing as vampires."

Jean watched as the last of her students departed with their parents. "Children believe in such things, and ghosts and other monsters until we talk them out of it with sense and logic. I think we could learn a lot from them."

Lucas laughed again and walked away from the group as Sapphire watched her partner approached Hisa Aikawa, a spring in his step the likes that she had never seen before.

 _Curious._ Even more curious, Steel didn't answer her.

"Steel, you disappeared with the woman. You don't remember that?"

Steel had his suit jacket and tie off, unusually informal for him, and doused his face with water from a small stream. He sat back upon the dried grass, his blue eyes troubled and that bothered Sapphire even more. "Could you take me back?"

"Yes, but at your present state, that would be unwise. You would not have the strength to survive."

"But if it's the only way for me to remember?"

"Still unwise." It bothered Sapphire just a bit to suddenly be the strong one, the one in charge of their actions. "And I doubt it would make any difference. The _Hinoenma_ is gone."

"Gone?"

"You weren't quite the energy she was looking for. When she tapped into yours, it completely destroyed her."

"Destroyed?"

"I suspect so. In short, to be used to AC and suddenly get a jolt of DC, it's quite upsetting."

"But if you don't know what happened, then how…?" Steel trailed off.

"I have it on the best of authorities."

Jean walked the grey-suited man approach Hisa and felt a tendril of fear grow in her stomach. She'd seen that look before.

"Like a lamb to the slaughter," she murmured.

"Why do you say that?"

Jean didn't bother to look. She knew it was Sapphire. "You know, don't you?"

"I do. I do not understand the why or the how."

"The how is not important. Suffice it to say, it is amazing what people won't see."

"Can't?"

"Won't." Jean sighed as Hisa led Steel away. "Will your partner be alright?"

"Steel is a being of enormous fortitude. He should be fine."

"If he isn't?"

"He will be."

"What are you?"

"A fair question and one that I might redirect to you."

"Have you ever heard the saying, hiding in plain sight?"

"I have." Sapphire tilted her head. "A vampire?"

"Yes and that's what we do. We operate within the community, making sure we take only as much as we need."

"I thought vampires didn't particularly enjoy sunlight."

"We are like any other creature, we adapt." Jean tilted her face to catch the late afternoon sun. "Some of us have even come to enjoy it."

"You won't hurt your students." It was a statement

"Of course not. I am put in this position for that very reason." She indicated Hisa's retreating figure. "Her, on the other hand, she was not only posing a danger to the school, but also to our community. She is greedy and selfish." Jean sighed deeply. "Such actions cannot be tolerated."

"And Steel was part of your plan to banish her?"

"No, he was merely convenient. I sense something different about him, but Hisa, she could only sense the energy he possess. Now it's your turn."

"We are Time Agents. We are here to ensure that Time moves along its predestined path."

"That makes no sense. Why are you here?"

"We have no idea, but often we don't. We are sent in to assess and possibly correct any issues that arise. We were assigned because we were -" Sapphire smiled tightly. "Convenient."

"Where are they going?"

"If it's like many of other victims, there is a large meadow. She will leave him there, just as she did the others."

"And no one found them?"

"We did and we properly disposed of them. As I said before, we are careful. We do what we must to avoid detection."

"And the playhouse?"

"A rather clumsy attempt to indicate the _Hinoenma_."

"Excuse me?"

"She is a Japanese vampire, but she exists on energy more than blood, although she will take if she has to. She preys upon men, projecting an image of herself as the most desirable woman they can imagine."

"And Steel saw Jet." Sapphire's eyes narrowed.

Jean laughed. "It would have been awkward if she'd appeared as you."

That startled Sapphire and she paused a moment before nodding. "You are correct."

Jean closed her eyes and drew in a sharp intake of breath. "Something has happened. Hisa is no more."

"What? And Steel?"

"Find him in the meadow and take him away. There are no answers here. We will do what we must to protect our way of life and our children. Leave now."

Sapphire refrained from helping Steel to his feet. She knew he would not appreciate her perception of him as weak.

"Sapphire, nothing about this assignment makes sense to me. What was our objective? Why were we even sent here?"

"We were… convenient." She reached out a hand and took Steel's. "I think They are waiting for our report."

"Mine will be very short."

Sapphire sighed and looked back in the direction of the school yard and the playhouse filled with blood, a mystery she now knew would never be answered. "Not half as short as mine."

And then the filed was empty, except for the fluttering of butterflies and the rustle of wind through the golden grasses of an Indian summer.


End file.
